Time-delay metering dispenser

ABSTRACT

A device suitable for dispensing medicament fluids in repeated dosage amounts on a time-delay basis comprises an applicator head and a handle having a primary first reservoir containing a quantity of medicament fluid to be dispensed within the handle. A single dosage containing second reservoir is contained within the applicator head and has dispensing means in communication with the head. A filling means positively fills the dosage reservoir from the primary first reservoir over a predetermined delay time generally not less than 30 minutes.

United States Patent 1191 Buelow et a1. 1 1 Sept. 9, 1975 [54]TlNlE-DELAY METERING DISPENSER 1741042 4/1956 Burgin 4. 401/1852.971.518 2/1961 ONeal 1 1 401/150 175] lnvgmorsl Joseph 3.469578 9/1909Bicrman 128/232 x g a'f Reld Lmle CamdlL bolh 3 659 600 5/1972 Merrill128/260 inn.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee: Minnesota Mining andManufacturing Com any st Paul 523340 4/1956 Canada 401/150 p 806.42412/1936 France 401/146 Minn.

1 1 Filedi 1974 Primary ExaminerRicharCl A. Gaudet [2] 1 App!) No: 450008 Assistant Examiner]. C. McGowan Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlexander,Sell, Steldt &

DeLziHunt [52] US. Cl. 128/222; 401/150; 401/187; 401/270; 128/260;222/187 lnt. c121... A61J 7/00; 843K 5/18; B67D 3/00 1571 ABSTRACT [58]Field of Search 128/222, 260. 261 269, A device suitable for dispensingmedicament fluids in 128/62 A; 222/92 106, 187, 205, 325, repeateddosage amounts on a time-delay basis c0m- 326; 132/84; 401/119. 133-135151, prises an applicator head and a handle having a pri- 156 171, 176,178 183. 186 198. 270, 278, mary first reservoir containing a quantityof medica 150. 146 ment fluid to be dispensed within the handle. Asingle dosage containing second reservoir is contained within [56]References Cited the applicator head and has dispensing means in c0m-UNITED STATES PATENTS munication with the head. A filling meanspositively HEM)! MW]: Fcrcnczy am/Isl X fills the dosage reservo r fromthe primary first reser- 554 5,1916 (mum I 222M voir over apredetermined delay time generally not mnwm 11/1920 Winn .1 401/148 than30 minutes- 1 hl5.1l14 1/1927 Walker... 401/ 1200.277 5/1933 Dennis401/143 21 Drawmg figures TIME-DELAY METERING DISPENSER BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention In one aspect this inventionrelates to tooth brushing. In another aspect this invention relates todispensing brushes suitable for dispensing medicinal fluids.

2. Prior Art Fountain or dispensing tooth brushes are known in the art;examples are disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. l,l68,965 issued to Rosenblum;1,676,60] issued to Cavanaugh; 2,814,8I6 issued to Pepping et al.',2,987,743 issued to Capps; and 3,256,894 issued to Sherman. These toothbrushes disclose various mechanisms for storing and dispensingquantities of a fluid or semi-solid material to the bristles of a toothbrush.

Many materials are known to be of value in the prevention and/ortreatment of oral disease. Examples include fluorides such as sodiumfluoride, antibiotics, e.g. tetracycline, and bactericides, e.g.chlorhexidine. In general. these materials share the problem of toxicitywhen administered in large doses. Therefore, the dosage of thesematerials applied by a dispensing brush containing such materials isimportant and must be regulated. Prior art brushes do not provide meansfor applying a measured dose and preventing multiple doses which mightprove harmful.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly. the applicator of this inventionovercomes the problems inherent in the prior art. The applicator formedis suitable for dispensing repeated dosage amounts but on a time-delayedbasis so that an overdose of the medicament is prevented and atherapeutic dose assured. The applicator of this invention comprisesgenerally an applicating head having attached thereto suitablemedicament spreading means and a handle means attached to theapplicating head. A primary reservoir containing a quantity ofmedicament fluid to be dispensed, said quantity constituting a pluralityof single doses. is contained within the handle attached to the head anda single dosage reservoir is contained within said head. The dosagereservoir is emptied by gravity or alternately has a dispensing meanswhich positively delivers the contents of the dosage reservoir to thespreading means. A time-delayed filling means connects the primaryreservoir to the dosage reservoir. the filling means being adapted topositively fill the dosage reservoir over a predetermined time. but innot less than about 30 minutes. There may be activating means mounted onthe handle to positively empty the dosage reservoir on the spreadingmeans. When the activating means are used. a single dose of medicament.in a predetermined amount is delivered to the spreading means. Followingdelivery of the medicamerit to the spreading means. a second dose cannotbe dispensed immediately. thereby insuring against an overdose. Afterthe passage of a period of time, generally at least 30 minutes. thedosage reservoir will be refilled and a repeat application is possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A further understanding can be had byreferring to the accompanying drawing in which:

I"I(i I is a top view of one embodiment of the dis pensing tooth brushof this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the brush of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to theaccompanying drawing in which like reference numerals refer to likeparts in the several views, a tooth brush 10 has a handle 12 and brushhead 14. The handle 12 has a collapsible storage reservoir 16 disposedtherein communicating with a dosage reservoir 18 which has a duct 20connecting the dosage reservoir with bristles 22.

In greater detail, as shown the handle 12 and brush head 14 can beformed of one piece of solid material such as injection molded plastic.The collapsible storage reservoir 16 is mounted within a hollow portionof handle 12 and has an aperture 24 which is closed by a semi-permeablemembrane 26. The membrane is held in place over aperture 24 by acoupling 28. The coupling also serves, in conjunction with shapedportion 30 of the brush handle 14, to hold the collapsible primaryreservoir 16 in fluid communication with the dosage reservoir 18. Thesemi-permeable membrane 26 insures that the release of medicinal fluidinto dosage reservoir 18 will take place over a substantial period oftime and that multiple doses of medicament are not fed into and out ofthe dosage reservoir over a short period of time. The dosage reservoir18 contains a sponge 32 which is capable of absorbing and holding asingle dose of medicament within the dosage reservoir 18. The spongeinsures that the entire dose of medicament will be held within thedosage reservoir until activation of the brush so that a full dose isdelivered upon activation, also, after filling of the dosage reservoir18 the medicament will not continuously drain through duct 20 onto thebristles.

When it is desired to dispense a dose of medicament, a plunger assemblycomprising plunger 34, spring 36 and O-ring 38 is pushed downward, thebottom surface of plunger 34 squeezing sponge 38 to a compressed stateand releasing the medicament imbibed therein into duct 20. The imbibedmedicament flows through duct 20 and onto the bristles 22 of brush 14.After activation spring 36 returns the plunger 34 to the upper openposition allowing sponge 32 to expand to its uncompressed state andimbibe additional medicament as it permeates through the semi-permeablemembrane 26.

The applicator of this invention is useful, e.g. for safely dispensingmeasured amounts of medicinal agents into the buccal cavity for theprevention or treatment of oral disease. An effective medicament is asolution of sodium fluoride of about 5 percent concentration by weight.It is also useful in dispensing other medicaments operational in thebuccal cavity including soluble inorganic fluorides, antibiotics such astetracycline, and bactericides such as chlorhexidine. The time delaymetered dosage form brush may also be used for application ofmedicaments to external portions of a body where one wants thecombination of medicament delivery and cleansing action achievable witha brush sponge or the like.

The handle and applicating head of this invention can be made as a unitsuch as shown in FIG. I or may be made separately and only a portion ofthe device replaced when necessary. Suitable materials for forming thehandle and applicating head are low creep plastics e.g. cellulosepropionate. The materials can be selected on the basis of cost, ease ofmanufacture, nonreactivity with the medicament to be dispensed as wellas other processing variables.

The spreading means can comprise bristles such as those commonly used intooth brushes, sponges, fiberous or non-woven pads and similar porousapplicating and spreading means well known in the art.

What is claimed is:

l. A device suitable for dispensing medicinal fluids in repeatedmeasured dosage amounts with predetermined minimum time delay betweenconsecutive doses comprising:

an applicator head embodying a medicament spreading means;

a handle means attached to said head;

a first reservoir containing a quantity of medicament fluid constitutinga plurality of single doses contained within said handle means",

a second reservoir for containing and storing a single dose amount ofsaid fluid medicament within said handle means;

dispensing means adapted to deliver the medicament fluid contained insaid second reservoir to said medicament spreading means; andtime-delayed filling means connecting said first reservoir and saidsecond reservoir, said means being adapted to positively refill saidsecond reservoir over a predetermined period of time not less than aboutminutes;

whereby after each dose of medicament of predetermined amount has beendelivered to the applicator head for application of said medicament to adesired area for treatment said device will dispense a following dose ofmedicament only after said predetermined period of time.

2. The device of claim 1 where said time-delayed filling means is acapillary tube.

3. The device of claim I where said time-delayed filling means is asemi-permeable membrane.

4. The device of claim 1 where said second reservoir has a spongecontained therein to retain the medicament.

5. The device of claim 1 where said medicament is an aqueous solution ofstannous fluoride.

6. The device of claim 1 where said medicament is an aqueous solution ofsodium fluoride.

7. The device of claim 1 where said medicament is an aqueous solution offluoride ion producing compound.

8. The device of claim 1 where said medicament is a solution ofantibiotic.

9. The device of claim 8 where said medicament is a solution oftetracycline.

10. The device of claim I where said medicament is a solution ofantibacterial agent.

I]. The device of claim 10 wherein the medicament is a solution ofchlorhexidine.

12. The device of claim 1 having means associated with said secondreservoir to positively empty said res ervoir when it is desired todispense the medicament.

13. The article of claim 6 where said means connecting said secondreservoir and said first reservoir comprises a permeable membrane.

14. The article of claim 6 where said second reservoir is refilled witha single dose of fluid medicament over a period of about 30 minutes to 4hours.

15. A tooth brush suitable for dispensing repeated dosage amounts of afluid medicament on a time-delay basis comprising:

a brush head having attached thereto a plurality of bristles suitablefor cleaning teeth;

a handle attached to said head;

a first reservoir containing multiple dose amounts of fluid medicamentcontained within said handle;

a second reservoir for containing a single dose amount of saidmedicament within said handle and containing a spongelike fluid-holdingmaterial; a fluid duct connecting said second reservoir with said brushhead; a time-delayed filling means connecting said first reservoir andsaid second reservoir adapted to fill said second reservoir over a pre'determined period of time not less than about 30 minutes; and

means adapted to compress said fluid-holding material in said secondreservoir thereby delivering a single dose of medicament to said brushand allowing the application of a following dose of medicament onlyafter said predetermined period of time.

16. The tooth brush of claim 15 where said medicament is one which isnormally unstable when mixed with toothpaste.

T7. The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution ofsodium fluoride.

18. The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution ofstannous fluoride.

19. The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution offluoride ion producing compound.

20. The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution oftetracycline.

2]. The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution ofchlorhexidine.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIGNPATENT NO. 3,903,888

DATED September 9, 1975 I W) I Buelow and Reid It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the abstract, lines 3 & t, delete "primary".

In the abstract, line 7, for "applicator head" insert hand1e- In theabstract, line 9, delete "primary".

Signal and Scaled this second Day of December 1975 {SEAL} Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DAMN Arresting ()fl'icer Commissioner ofParents and Trldtmlris

1. A device suitable for dispensing medicinal fluids in repeatedmeasured dosage amounts with predetermined minimum time delay betweenconsecutive doses comprising: an applicator head embodying a medicamentspreading means; a handle means attached to said head; a first reservoircontaining a quantity of medicament fluid constituting a plurality ofsingle doses contained within said handle means; a second reservoir forcontaining and storing a single dose amount of said fluid medicamentwithin said handle means; dispensing means adapted to deliver themedicament fluid contained in said second reservoir to said medicamentspreading means; and time-delayed filling means connecting said firstreservoir and said second reservoir, said means being adapted topositively refill said second reservoir over a predetermined period oftime not less than about 30 minutes; whereby after each dose ofmedicament of predetermined amount has been delivered to the applicatorhead for application of said medicament to a desired area for treatmentsaid device will dispense a following dose of medicament only after saidpredetermined period of time.
 2. The device of claim 1 where saidtime-delayed filling means is a capillary tube.
 3. The device of claim 1where said time-delayed filling means is a semi-permeable membrane. 4.The device of claim 1 where said second reservoir has a sponge containedtherein to retain the medicament.
 5. The device of claim 1 where saidmedicament is an aqueous solution of stannous fluoride.
 6. The device ofclaim 1 where said medicament is an aqueous solution of sodium fluoride.7. The device of claim 1 where said medicament is an aqueous solution offluoride ion producing compound.
 8. The device of claim 1 where saidmedicament is a solution of antibiotic.
 9. The device of claim 8 wheresaid medicament is a solution of tetracycline.
 10. The device of claim 1where said medicament is a solution of antibacterial agent.
 11. Thedevice of claim 10 wherein the medicament is a solution ofchlorhexidine.
 12. The device of claim 1 having means associated withsaid second reservoir to positively empty said reservoir when it isdesired to dispense the medicament.
 13. The article of claim 6 wheresaid means connecting said second reservoir and said first reservoircomprises a permeable membrane.
 14. The article of claim 6 where saidsecond reservoir is refilled with a single dose of fluid medicament overa period of about 30 minutes to 4 hours.
 15. A tooth brush suitable fordispensing repeated dosage amounts of a fluid medicament on a time-delaybasis comprising: a brush head having attached thereto a plurality ofbristles suitable for cleaning teeth; a handle attached to said head; afirst reservoir containing multiple dose amounts of fluid medicamentcontained within said handle; a second reservoir for containing a singledose amount of said medicament within said handle and containing aspongelike fluid-holding material; a fluid duct connecting said secondreservoir with said brush head; a time-delayed filling means connectingsaid first reservoir and said second reservoir adapted to fill saidsecond reservoir over a predetermined period of time not less than about30 minutes; and means adapted to compress said fluid-holding material insaid second reservoir thereby delivering a single dose of medicaMent tosaid brush and allowing the application of a following dose ofmedicament only after said predetermined period of time.
 16. The toothbrush of claim 15 where said medicament is one which is normallyunstable when mixed with toothpaste.
 17. The article of claim 15 wheresaid medicament is a solution of sodium fluoride.
 18. The article ofclaim 15 where said medicament is a solution of stannous fluoride. 19.The article of claim 15 where said medicament is a solution of fluorideion producing compound.
 20. The article of claim 15 where saidmedicament is a solution of tetracycline.
 21. The article of claim 15where said medicament is a solution of chlorhexidine.